E019:08 18 March 2008
Nuclear regulators, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Environment Agency (EA), today announced that the first step of 'Generic Design Assessment' (GDA) carried out on four designs submitted for new nuclear power stations had found no shortfalls at this stage - in terms of safety, security or the environment - that would prevent any of them from ultimately being constructed on licensed sites in the UK.
These findings are based on the claims made by the vendors for the designs, the basis of which will be assessed during the next steps of GDA.
The nuclear regulators have published a series of reports on their findings so far, maintaining transparency and openness in the GDA process. The reports can be viewed at www.hse.gov.uk/newreactors.
GDA has been set up to ensure that the safety, security and environmental aspects of new nuclear power stations are assessed early - at the design stage. The four designs subject to the initial assessment were:
Dr. Mike Weightman, Head of HSE's Nuclear Directorate, and HM Chief Inspector of Nuclear Installations said, "Our job, through the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate and the Office for Civil Nuclear Security, is to protect people and society from the hazards presented by the nuclear industry. As new nuclear power stations are being considered for the UK, it is vital for regulators to get involved with potential designs at the earliest stage - where regulatory assessments can have most influence - so that we can ensure that the existing high standards of nuclear safety and security in the UK are being maintained and improved.
The GDA process has set out new standards in openness and transparency with the creation of a public involvement process whereby the public can view designs on the web and comment on them, and by our decision to publish all our assessments reports on the web."
Joe McHugh, Head of Radioactive Substances Regulation at the Environment Agency said, "We demand that any new nuclear power stations meet high standards of safety, security and environment protection. As we begin the detailed assessment step of GDA, the reactor vendors and the regulators have much work to do before we will be able to decide whether these designs can meet those high standards. We hope that the public will continue to take the opportunity to contribute to our assessments by providing their comments on the designs."
In the January 2008 Energy White Paper, the Government announced that if necessary it would run a prioritisation exercise to identify, in conjunction with reactor designers and operators, which of the four designs subject to the regulators' initial assessment are most likely to be progressed for licensing and construction.
Currently BERR are awaiting confirmation from all of the design companies that they wish to continue to the next stage of GDA. If BERR decide that they need to undertake a prioritisation process, then at the end of that process the Secretary of State for BERR will make recommendations to HSE and the Environment Agency on the designs that should be given the highest priority for progressing through the next stage of the GDA process.
At the end of the GDA process - which is likely to take around 3.5 years from start to finish - the regulators will make statements setting out their conclusions about the acceptability of the designs.
All enquiries from journalists should be directed to the HSE Press Office
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